Local Chabad Rabbi First Raised and Trained in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Chabad Jews in the state are passing on their religious heritage with the hiring of Utah's first locally raised rabbi to found Chabad Hebrew schools.

Rabbi Avremi Zippel and Sheina Zippel, his wife, will serve as youth and program directors in the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, the state's chapter of the Chabad Lubavitch, the largest organization of Jews worldwide.

The Zippels will be founding and developing a Chabad Hebrew School and Preschool, as well a local Camp Gan Israel, a Jewish summer and winter camp.

"My wife and I are grateful and delighted for the immense privilege and responsibility that has been bestowed upon us," Rabbi Zippel said in a statement. "I can think of no better way to give back to my hometown than to ensure that Chabad's vision, of every Jewish child and adult in the state of Utah having the opportunity to partake in the beauty and joy of their heritage, (comes) to a reality."

Son of Rabbi Benny Zippel of the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, Rabbi Avremi Zippel was raised in Salt Lake City and home-schooled until 13. He studied in a Yeshiva high school and later in London and Brooklyn. He served in England, Wales, France, Italy, Germany and Denmark doing Chabad humanitarian projects during his Yeshiva schooling.

He was trained as a rabbi in Salt Lake City and was formally ordained in December 2013 at the Rabbinical college of America by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former chief rabbi of Israel. He was married in 2014 and was pursuing postgraduate studies in Brooklyn before he was appointed at the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah.

Sheina Zippel attended Chabad schools and received her teacher's degree from the Machon Shoshanat Yerushalayim Teachers Seminary in Jerusalem. She has directed and worked at Chabad summer camps throughout the nation and world. She taught in Chabad preschools in California and New York until she was appointed at the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah.